TikTok is threatening to shut down its app for US users this Sunday if a federal ban goes into effect, sources have revealed.
Sunday marks the deadline for Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, to divest its US assets or face removal from US app stores. This action is a result of concerns regarding the app’s alleged ties to the Chinese government.
If the ban is enforced, existing American users would retain access to TikTok, but no new downloads would be permitted, and the app’s functionality would deteriorate over time without updates.
Despite this, insiders from TikTok have indicated their willingness to completely cease operations and block access to all 150 million American users in protest if the ban takes effect.
Under the shutdown, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, sources told Reuters.
The company also plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information, they said.
Shutting down such services does not require longer planning, one source said, noting that most operations have been continuing as usual as of this week.
If the ban gets reversed later, TikTok would be able to restore service for US users in a relatively short time, the source said.
Under the law banning the app, users would face different consequences.
Charli D’Amelio has the second largest following on the platform. The 20-year-old influencer from Norwalk, Connecticut, has more than 155million followers (at Swarovski in NYC on December 9)
Khaby Lame attends the UK Premiere of ‘Oppenheimer’ at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on July 13, 2023. Lame is the most followed person in the world on TikTok with more than 162million followers
Khaby Lame is the world’s most followed person on TikTok, with more than 162million followers. He makes roughly $259,000 per post.
Charli D’Amelio has the second largest following on the platform with more than 155million followers, raking in about $247,000 per video.
Mr. Beast is the third most followed TikTok creator with more than 106million followers, and each video earns him roughly $152,000.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which has more than 7,000 employees in the US.
Last April, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell its US assets by January 19, 2025 or face a nationwide ban.
Last week, the US Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold the law, despite calls from President-elect Donald Trump some lawmakers to extend the deadline, Reuters reported.
Trump, who is set to be sworn into office one day after the law would go into effect, has said he should have time to pursue a ‘political resolution’ to the issue.
Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass, said Monday that he planned to introduce legislation to delay the ban by an additional 270 days.
Mr. Beast is seen in attendance during the UFC 299 event at Kaseya Center on March 09, 2024 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Beast, real name James Donaldson, is the third most followed person on TikTok with more than 106million followers
TikTok plans to shut its app for US users Sunday, when a federal ban on the social media app could come into effect, inside sources have told Reuters
‘TikTok creators and users across the nation are understandably alarmed. They are uncertain about the future of the platform, their accounts, and the vibrant online communities they have cultivated,’ Markey said in a statement.
Markey has also jointed Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky, and Representative Ro Ghanna, D-Calif. in submitting a bipartisan brief asking the US Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision to uphold a TikTok ban.
The lawmakers argue that ‘there are less drastic measures that could effectively address data security issues without infringing on constitutional rights,’ according to the brief.
Anyone who does not already have the app downloaded when the ban goes into effect will not be able to install it going forward.
Existing users, however, will still be able to access and use the app.
But in addition to seeing a pop-up about the ban upon opening the app, they will not be able to install updates, which will likely cause it to degrade and stop working over time.
US lawmakers have claimed that the Chinese government could use the app to spy on Americans or influence the American public by amplifying or suppressing certain types of content.
TikTok and ByteDance have said the law violates the US constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
Both the app and its parent company have sought to delay the implementation of the law.
In a December court filing, TikTok said that an estimated one third of the 170 million Americans who use the app would stop accessing the social media platform if the ban lasted a month.
